Well I'll give ya one. Buy a house for yourself if you don't already own one. After a year or 2, use the equity in your house as down payment money on another one and rent it out. It's important to remember that you are NOT spending your equity (people are afraid of this)...you are simply moving it to another property. When you put 10k down on a home, you have 10k of instant equity in that home. Buying properties with OPM is nothing more than using creative ways of "moving" (not spending) equity from one property to another.

 

Yes there are scams out there. Hmmm the wonders of getting rich quick. Lets see you could always sue someone? Or heck become an attorney for we all know they make so much money by frivilous lawsuits. Right? So why does'nt everyone run out and get a Law Degree and become an attorney? It's hard work and a lot of education. To buy a book with the hopes of getting rich quick is only a false hope. You need to do your own due dilligence. I for one invest in real estate. I work as a Loan Officer as my full time job as well as being a full time real estate investor I also work a few hours a week in a home improvement ware house (puts me in contact with many contractors who are in the know and discounted materials). I would suggest to anyone who even wants to consider investing in real estate to first go to your local library and take out a book on it, research the internet, join or visit a real estate investment group and ask someone you know who's been successful with it how they did it. And I bet they will tell you it took a lot of time and research to get started. No money down deals of the nature in the Sheets program are only feasible in states where homes are still around 100k and home owners are willing to hold the mortgage with out the need for a bank. And yes some people are in booming markets where some quick money can be made with a deal of risk and speculation involved. If you invest enough time in anything and understand it you can make money. How many people have heard of the day trader that made millions? And how many more about the ones who have lost everything? Do you suspect one was gambling and one was educated in the market. Real estate is the same way. I work in one aspect of it so I see a lot of things. 1956Mark makes a good point on distressed properties. If they can not move it what makes you think you can? Just like that 2wd F-350 in Rochester New York. It's all in how it is marketed, but again you must have the knowledge on how to market it and have some vision (the glass is always half full) and you will be successful. If you don't know what your doing there is no such thing as a good deal. And bank forclosures are another thing, they are a plenty in some areas and why (depressed markets), if it is any deal at all then there will be many people to bid on it and it will usually sell at a premium anyways, but just like buying a lottery ticket you never know.
You have to educate your self and just picking up a book is only the beginning. I for one would recommend that anyone who is serious to go to the library and take out a copy of a book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". It's free with a library card and is the most unbiased book on getting rich descrining the pitfalls and not over glorifying the positives. The best investment is investing in yourself.

 

Good one BigGunz. My favorite term to use O.P.M. Other Peoples Money. And FEAR is what seperates those that make money from those that don't

 

where can i buy a house for 80k?
and how bad is this house and neighborhood?

 

in canada you can buy from the bank with no money down. but most of the places we looked at were really run down. basically these homes required so many repairs or were in such a bad location, even the professional renovater's with a bankroll aren't interested. even if there is potential, the bank's not in the business of renovating houses, so they'll let just about anyone with a job take over the payments.

but you still need cash to renovate and make money. banks here will let you borrow against your equity. but if you're living in a dump that needs a new roof and have no down payment, well then you have no equity.

on the flip side if you really think you can make it work with what little money you have, then go ahead and buy with no money down. save your down payment to make the first repairs out of your own pocket. once you've gone in and fixed the basics, rewiring, new plumbing, waste lines, new roof and whatever else to make it habitable, then you can probably get some money from the bank for more expensive projects like new kitchen, bathroom, heating and windows.

 

location location location
3 most important words in real estate

 

You can buy a house in my neighborhood for 80k. I live in Pittsburgh and bought my house for 60k and it was worth 80k, it's probably a little bit higher now.

In a few years, I will either sell the house or rent it and repeat the situation over, but with a bigger house.

for the investors, is it better to rent or to sell and take the money now. I could rent the house for around 800-900/month and the mortgage with taxes and everything is less than 600/month?

 

thank you, down payment is not my problem, my home is payed for but how do i find a house that someone is selling for less than it is worth?? I would not do that

 

those prices are just a distant memory in the greater boston area.
we do have the sox and pats though.

 

Foreclosures. Your city paper will have ads showing foreclosures to be held at public auctions or at the courthouse steps, with the date and place of the event. Foreclosures do NOT always mean distressed properties. It just means that the HO has been foreclosed on by the mortgage company, and the MC wants the full payment of the balance due on the property , because the debtor has shown a inability to make the payments to them on their loan. Foreclosures are the result of people losing their jobs, accumulating more expenses than they can pay monthly, or any other many reasons for not being able to pay the monthly mortage on time.

 

[QUOTE=Greg 79 f150]Foreclosures. Your city paper will have ads showing foreclosures to be held at public auctions or at the courthouse steps, with the date and place of the event. Foreclosures do NOT always mean distressed properties. It just means that the HO has been foreclosed on by the mortgage company, and the MC wants the full payment of the balance due on the property , because the debtor has shown a inability to make the payments to them on their loan. Foreclosures are the result of people losing their jobs, accumulating more expenses than they can pay monthly, or any other many reasons for not being able to pay the monthly mortage on time.

around here on a sherif sale they will NOT let you inside the property till you own it

 

I have not seen the C. Sheets program, however, I am a remodeler and deal with investment properties purchased by investors occasionally. I think it is possible to make money buying property like that but it is tricky and not as easy as it seems. We learned quick to get the money for a job up front. As the repair bills stack up investors get awful nervous. Around here existing houses don't move that fast compared to new construction. I would be more inclined to build a spec home.

 

just how do you find a house that someone will sell for less than its worth??

 

The trick is not to find a house for 80k, 50k, 100k, or 150k. The trick is to learn the rental market for homes, find out what they rent for in decent neighborhoods (not necessarily a neighborhood that YOU would live in), and then crunch the numbers. For example if the average 3br home rents for 1000 to 1200 per month, you would need to find a home to purchase where the rent will cover the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance (insurance on just the structure, make your renters insure the contents), and some other minor annual expenses and don't forget any money you borrowed for the down payment. Ideally, you would want to have a positive cash flow but breaking even is good too...Why?...because the property will appreciate ( I believe the current national average is around 3-5%) and you will gain additional income through tax benefit. Both me and my wife work full time and have no kids. If it weren't for our rentals we would pay almost 30k per year in taxes. With 5 rental units plus our jobs we only pay 15k in taxes. That's $1250 per month income just through tax benefit.

 

It's not necessary to buy a house for less than it's worth. In fact, all of my rentals I paid market value for. As I pointed out in another post it's almost MORE important to consider what you can rent it for than what you can buy it for.